"Why should not I?"

"Always bearing about in the body of the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." 2 Corinthians 4:10

The emergency that the whole world is in through sin calls for sacrifices that bring great pain of spirit. A young man in a small church college in the Middle West was stirred by the needs of the foreign mission fields. He determined to offer his life and service to help meet that need. But before committing himself actively with his church authorities he wrote to her who had given him life, telling her of the burning desire in his heart, and asking her consent. By and by the answering letter came. It was blotted with tears. Its pages brought up a vivid picture of that mother's face and heart. She replied, in effect giving her consent, and then writing down these words: "I never knew until now how much it cost God to give His Son." S. D. Gordon

Some feet must bleed,
Bruised and torn by rocks and thorns
Which in their path unbidden lie.
If any mortal can with grace endure
Those things for which earth has no cure,
Why should not I?

Some backs are bent
'Neath loads of never-ending care,
Yet all is fair as they go by.
If others then can bear their load
And smile and sing alone life's road,
Why should not I?

Some eyes are dim -
Each tear speaks silently of pain
Known only to their God on high.
If weeping ones can still be bold
And carry sorrows never told,
Why should not I?

Some souls are large -
They have for grief but little heed;
Brave souls are they; souls that are high;
If they can pass 'neath chastening rod,
Keep hope undimmed, and faith in God,
Why should not I?

Through strength divine,
Come gain or loss, each one may win,
For will not God His help supply?
'Tis written, Grace for every need
Sufficient IS - you then may plead.
Why should not I?

Grand Colfax Tullar

By Charles E. Fuller & J. Elwin Wright, taken from "Manna in the Morning"

Beginning to Sink

"But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him." Matthew 14:30-31

Beginning to sink . . . immediately . . . " But even so, for we are all weakness in ourselves, there are times when nothing comes to mind but these words. They assure us of so much more than they seem to say . . . Chiefly they bring the certainty that there will be no sinking, for Peter never sank. ("When I said, "My foot slippeth," - in that moment - "They mercy, O Lord, held me up.")

They come underneath the feeling of sinking; they say, "This shall never be." It was Christ's sorely tired prisoner, Samuel Rutherford, who wrote that the parings and crumbs of glory, a shower like the thin May-mist of his Lord's love was enough to make him green and sappy and joyful. Such a word, even such a little word as this, if only we open our hearts to its healing power, may be a crumb of glory enlightening the soul, a thin May-mist of His love making green and sappy (or glowing and golden) what was so dull and dry before. "And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him." How many seconds lie between a man's beginning to sink and his sinking? A second or less, I suppose, sees one who is beginning to sink under water. How swift, then, was the movement of love! And as He was, so He is. - Amy Carmichael

Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

E. A. Hoffman

By Charles E Fuller and J. Elwin Wright, taken from "Manna in the Morning"

Are you Thirsty?

"If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. he that believeth on Me, . . . from within him (his innermost being) shall flow rivers of living water." John 7:37, 38

While there is in my heart an unsatisfied longing, there is available to a corresponding "fullness." As long as my innermost being is not an effervescent spring, I have not received all that God has for me.

"But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive." Thank God, then, there is a way! There is an ocean of god's fullness into which I may "launch out!" There is a new venture, an experience more revolutionizing and satisfying than any I have ever known! - Anna J. Lindgren

Ho! ev'ry one that is thirsty in spirit,
Ho! ev'ry one that is weary and sad,
Come to the fountain, there's fullness in Jesus,
All that you're longing for, come and be glad.

Child of the world, are you tired of your bondage?
Weary of earth-joys, so false, so untrue;
Thirsting for God, and His fullness of blessing?
List to the promise - a message for you.

Child of the kingdom, be filled with the Spirit,
Nothing but fullness thy longing can meet,
'Tis the enduement for life and for service;
Thine is the promise, so certain, so sweet.

"I will pour water on him that is thirsty,
I will pour floods upon the dry ground;
Open your heart for the gift I am bringing,
While ye are seeking me, I will be found."

Lucy J. Rider

By Charles E. Fuller & J. Elwin Wright, taken from "Manna in the Morning"

Intercessing in Prayer

"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men." I Timothy 2:1

Our prayer for spiritual awakening will without question be most effective if we take up the work of interceding for certain individuals in particular.

We find that most of us who have been converted have had some one praying for us, some one who carried us personally to the throne of God while we were unconverted. It seems to me that no one is so poor as he for whom not a single soul is praying, he who has no one who takes him personally and persistently to god in prayer.

We should enter into this work and become personal and regular interceders for certain definite individuals. Ask the Spirit of prayer to assign to you the individuals for whom you should pray. If every believer would do this, the Spirit would distribute the unconverted in every community among the believing men and women of prayer, and ultimately there would not be a single soul but what some consecrated and faithful believe would be p raying for him.

Then it would not be easy for the unconverted to continue to live in sin! Holy spiritual explosive materials would be planted into their souls daily, and the ground blasted from beneath their unrepentant lives. - O. Hallesby

There is a place where thou canset touch the eyes
Of blinded men to instant, perfect sight;
There is a place where thou canst say "Arise!"
To dying captive, bound in chains of night.
There is a place where thou canst reach the store
Of hoarded gold, and free it for the Lord;
There is a place here, or on a distant shore,
Where thou canst send the worker and the Word.
There is a place where Heaven's resistless power
Responsive moves to thine insistent plea;
There is a place, a slight holy hour,
Where God Himself descends and works for thee.
Where is that secret place? - dost thou ask "where?"
O soul, it is the secret place of prayer!

A. A. Polard

By Charles E. Fuller & J. Elwin Wright, taken from " Manna in the Morning"

Pain

"There was given to me a thorn in the flesh." 2 Corinthians 12:7

Pain has a great mission. While God does not send pain, He lets it stay, though He might intervene and take it away. While as a rule, with possibly rare exceptions, it comes through sin, it remains through the deliberate purpose of God. God has a great purpose of love in pain. He uses it as His teacher. It is the greatest of all His great teachers. It charges the very highest rates, insists upon the severest discipline, will tolerate nothing short of the highest ideal, needs our sympathetic help in working, and produces the very finest results. - D. S. Gordon

O Christ of Calvary, this Lent
Has brought Thee strangely near;
Perhaps it is because I too
Have borne a cross this year.

I did not climb Golgotha's brow
Nor in Thy sufferings share;
But knowing Thee has made my cross
Much easier to bear.

It somehow granted me a part
In Thy great sacrifice;
Thus sorrow has its recompense
Where joy cannot suffice.

O Christ, dear Christ of Calvary,
In gratitude I bow;
Thy resurrection day will dawn
With deeper meaning now.

Alice Hansche Mortenson

Taken from "Manna in the Morning"

Trouble? Which way will you go?

"And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way." John 4:50

The narrative of the nobleman and his sick son beautifully illustrates the beginning of faith and its rapid progress in the human soul. It is one thing to hear about the conversation of someone else but it is another to experience this great salvation personally, and to appropriate it by saving faith. This same living Christ is ever ready to help in time of great need, as He helped this nobleman.

Trouble led this man to Jesus, had it not been for this severe trail he might have lived on, never knowing the Saviour. Listen! trouble will do one of two things for you. It will either drive you to the place of refuge, shelter, and safety or it will cause your heart to become hard and rebellious. Pharaoh was made bitter, stiff-necked and hard.

When the nobleman heard that Jesus was passing that way he went to Him. That was the evidence that there was within his heart a spark of faith. Faith without works is dead. He "went and besought Him." And he continued to beseech until the assurance of the answer was given him. That is your privilege and mine, also. - Charles E. Fuller

Just one touch as He moves along,
Push'd and press'd by the jostling throng;
Just one touch and the weak was strong,
Cured by the Healer divine.

Just one touch and He makes me whole,
Speaks sweet peace to my sin-sick soul;
At His feet all my burdens roll, -
Cured by the Healer divine.

Just one touch! and He turns to me,
O the love in His eyes I see!
I am His for He hears my plea,
Cured by the Healer divine.

Birdie Bell

Taken from "Manna in the Morning"